Dreaming

Wow, it's been a week or two, eh? Sorry about that, dear internet. I was in the depths of finals and then attacked by the laziness of the holidays. However, I wanted to get back to my treasured blog and you swell folks, so without further ado...

the last post of the year!

Here is the final work for my interior illustration for Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Above is the lineart, inked traditionally on bristol with dip pens and India ink.

Then I took that baby into Photoshop...

Ta-da!

I'm still experimenting with applying texture in Photoshop and I want to keep it flat, more of a style than trying to be realistically rendered. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I sure do love that owl! Man, that is one sweetass owl.

Have a great remainder of 2012 and I'll see you all in 2013!

Sneak Peek

Just a sneak peek at an illustration I've been laboring over the past few days. I really am working on getting the drawing tight and where I want it before moving along. Drawing is my favorite part of the illustration process and I think it's been shafted in the past sometimes when I try to rush things. Steady and with thought now!

And with the help of lots of NPR and This American Life especially. Ira Glass, your voice can calm my deepest frustrations sometimes...

Once the final is done it shall be posted!

Felurian of the Fae

Lineart for an interior illustration of Felurian, a fae sex goddess (or monster, depending how you look at it). The character is from The Wise Man's Fear of The Kingkiller Chronicles: Day Two by Patrick Rothfuss. If you're a fan of the fantasy genre, I super highly recommend you check out this series. It's super addicting and has some of my favorite characters I've read in awhile.

I'll be obsessively working on the finish of this illustration in color, as well as a cover illustration for the book, this week in the throes of finals. These are also for my thesis so it's time to draw, draw, draw.

And just the regular lineart. Hopefully I'll have enough time to clean this up for the final art. I got some sweet violet and purple Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils for the task ahead!

Landscapes

I'm back after my short hiatus over the holiday and my visit to Chicago. It was great to be home for a bit.

Now, without further ado, I have for you on this fine Tuesday... Landscapes!

Week 12 into the semester and I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere with landscape painting. There's still much more for me to practice, experiment, and develop, but I'm beginning to enjoy it more each day.

This is a master copy of a painting by Michael Workman. He is a great landscape painter and I really love his compositions and texture. I've found that one of the aspects of oil painting which I enjoy the most is the interesting and various textures that can be made. Sure, texture is in every medium, but I feel it comes more naturally to me with oil and also allows for much more variation in approach. Copying Workman's painting has definitely helped me in switching up compositions in future thumbnails and paintings, as well as think more about shape, texture, and atmospherical perspective.

Here is a study from a field painting at a winery in Sonoma. I like the patterns which were visible from above and also like that the painting has some cartoony, animation-like feeling to the colors and shapes. I still need to go back in with a few layers though, especially since you can still see the pencil lines I put down originally! A bit too thin of application, mayhaps.

Another study from a field painting, this time at Tennessee Valley in Marin County. It was a very foggy day and color were very subdued. Although it got pretty chilly painting so near to the ocean in the morning, I really enjoyed the setting and sweet reference photos I gained from this expedition.

There will be more landscape paintings to come. I'm thinking now about doing some of my thesis illustrations as landscapes.

More to come Thursday!

Almost, but not yet forgotten...

I knew there was something bothering me today other than the slew of things unfinished... a blog post! Durr...

I give you the in progress of my interior illustration for "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick.

Still need to ink and then apply some washes before the finish due Monday.

Here's the rough lineart (as seen in the above photo taped to my desk).

I have a busy weekend ahead of me! Also, I'll be going back to Chicago on Monday and be there for ten days, so no blog posts for next week or the Tuesday after. I'm super excited to be back in Chicago for a bit and chill with friends and family.

I hope everyone enjoys next week's holiday chill (or unfortunately maybe not so chill) time, and god speed those who work in the retail industry.

400!

Finally inked, scanned, and lightly colored the best twelve heads out of the last hundred done. This brings me to 400 (and beyond... at 460 as of today)! This thousand head drawing challenge is extremely fun and beneficial. Although, I must say, I think I'm hitting that wall of blech drawings now. We'll see how the best of 500's hundred are...

A Dream In Progress

Today's main focus has been starting my painting for the cover of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" I thought I would share some progress shots thus far.

Transferring the drawing to panel using graphite transfer paper. Now there's something I must say here. For the longest I forwent the transfer paper and did the cheap method of just coloring the back of your drawing with pencil myself, then transferring it. Now, that works fine and all... but I have to say I am not regretting the ten bucks I spent on the transfer paper AT ALL. And it's only been used for two illustrations so far. It really saves me time and also makes the lines much darker and legible than the self-graphite method (at least in my experience... perhaps if I had used darker leads..).

Morale of the story: if you're easily distracted and impatient like I can be, do yourself a favor and get the transfer paper.

Drawing's all ready to go on the panel. Time to start painting!

And an in-progress. Definitely gone farther and there's A LOT more to do on this, but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to finish it traditionally in time for the class deadline of Monday. That's where my handy dandy computer is going to come in this weekend. However, I am definitely finishing this piece traditionally for my thesis... just need to also meet the deadline of the Narrative Illustration class.

It's been a fun day of painting and I'm looking forward to many more. Painting, you teach me patience and to relax and not worry about the little mistakes or "errors". It can always be covered up and re-worked. And, hey, that "mistake" actually kinda looks cool and inspires me for something else. Way to go, painting.

Android Dreams

Behold! Lineart for the current project I'm working on: a cover for Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

If you're not privy, it's the short story which the film Blade Runner was based on. Although I must say they really are two different stories, especially in mood. Philip K. Dick has a certain humor in his work which reminded me a bit of Kurt Vonnegut and that had me addicted. If you haven't read this short story or been lagging on reading any Philip K. Dick like I was, stop whatever you're doing and read some! Cause damn, it's good.

I'll also be doing an interior for the story. More posts to come on these projects as they develop!

Happy Halloween!

A sexy ghost lady greets you this Halloween!

Have a great day, everyone! October, you were a blast.

Heads in Costume!

So this past weekend was, of course, the weekend of Halloween parties as Wednesday just isn't quite the day to get plastered and go to work the next day. Hence why there were no posts for Halloween this weekend--Saturday was party time and Sunday was recovery.

Today I was happy to see all my friends posting their costume pictures dans le facebook, and took the opportunity to knock out some heads as well as draw something for Halloween today!

Top L to R, Pirate (one of two pirate brothers), Madeline, A cute cat lady

Bottom L to R, Malory Archer and a Spirit Guide!

Halloween is super fun time and I hope you guys are enjoying the festivities!

In a Graveyard

Today's Halloween-inspired post is brought to you by graveyards and cemeteries! One of the few benefits to spending thousands of dollars on death and burying your corpse--Cool places are created and I can walk around in them!

This morning and afternoon I worked on a little painting from one of those thumbnails I posted. This was without the photo reference, so just working from memory and the thumbnail. It was pretty fun to do and I'll definitely be working more on it in the coming week or two.

Technically on time...

I almost didn't make it with today's post! Today was a busy day and yet somehow I feel like I didn't accomplish very much. Those are never good days.

Well, here's some cemetery landscape thumbnails. Forgive the horrid picture quality. Let's just blame it on ghosts or something.

Sittin' Pretty for Halloween

Better late than never! Today was a busy day for me, but I managed to knock out an hour speed paint to kick off the days to Halloween!

black cat waits at the window...

There are still so many brushes to play around with in Painter... I am over-whelmed! But little speed paints give me the chance to explore outside of what I'm used to using.

I hope you guys enjoy! Tomorrow will be more spooky drawings!

400!

Not too much to post today, since it's my birthday and my present to myself is to bake and lounge around the house, putting off work until tomorrow. But I have made it past 400 in the 1,000 head drawing challenge! Bask in their glory!

Tomorrow I shall ink the best 10 (technically I think I chose 11 or 12) and share those in the days to come. Also starting tomorrow is the countdown to Halloween! Check back for some fun, sketchy Halloween-inspired drawings!

Spooky and Silly Halloween Doodles

I took some lovely pictures at Mountainview Cemetery here in Oakland.

You may remember I mentioned in a previous post about a Halloween drawing challenge in which for each day of October you draw something inspired by Halloween. Well, damn, I thought.. Halloween is my favorite holiday and October is my favorite month! Although I may be biased since it also contains my birthday... but both birthday and favorite holiday all in one? Instant win.

So I started doodling and sketching some spooky things but quickly fell behind in the days. Since the initial challenge isn't really feasible for the entire month for me, I'm going to instead draw one a day the week before Halloween! So starting next week on the 24th, prepare yourself for witches, black cats, vampires, cobwebs, and all creepy Halloween imagery!

In the meantime, here are the ones that I accomplished before realizing the entire month was too daunting.

And I'll leave you with one more cemetery picture to see you on your way through the Internet.

Sabriel Book Cover

Some may have noticed (maybe not) that I haven't been posting on scheduled Wednesdays and Fridays. Because of my schedule this semester, I think I'm going to change up my blog post dates to Tuesdays and Thursdays. This way I'll be able to get back to posting regularly since my days aren't as busy then. So brace yourselves for a post tomorrow and the coming Tuesday!

In the meantime, I just finished my book cover version for Garth Nix's Sabriel. Below are process pictures along with the final version.

First there were thumbnails. And they were good. I came up with several ideas and then went with the one I felt strongest about (middle right). I also liked the bottom right corner idea, but felt like the composition was more interesting with the latter thumbnail.

The drawing!

I did a few value studies then settled on my values, moving onto a color study. Sometimes in the past I've been too impatient in starting a piece and skip these two vital steps. Never again. It makes the actual painting process much more fun since I found myself way less confused and angry when I would get lost. Guides are great to have, as it turns out! Just running blindly into the forest isn't always the best idea as I've discovered after years of getting lost in its midst.

And the final illustration! This was drawn in graphite and ebony pencil, then painted with inkwash and some white gouache for details. I then scanned it and did some photoshopping for textures, color correction, and value pushes. I really enjoyed working traditionally and digitally.

Let me know what you think!

See you all tomorrow on the interwebs when I get back to my new posting schedule!

Landscape In Progress

Today (and the past week or so) I've been working on this landscape for class. Still feeling very beginner level to landscape painting, but I'm hoping that with practice and time I'll gain more confidence in painting environments.

I also came across an October drawing challenge of a wonderful Halloween/October-inspired illustration a day! I'm going to try and get started on some fun little character sketches for that, so brace yourselves for witches, black cats, monsters, and the like!

Return to Regularly Scheduled Posts: In Progress Illustrations

I nearly missed today's post, too.

Just as I got home this evening I thought to myself, 'Alright, time to sit on the couch and chill... but wait... what day is it again? Shit!' You see, the specifics of days have been elusive to me the past week or two.  Do please forgive my absent mind. The exact day isn't so much important for me to keep track of in my schedule right now, resulting in Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday often becoming interchangeable.

But anyhoo...

I'm working on a cover and interior illustration for the book Sabriel and thought today I would share some in progress work!

Here is the drawing for the cover. I'll be working traditionally for this one, in an inkwash with some watercolor methinks.

Behold, the interior! This is of the scene between Mogget and Sabriel after the Paperwing crashes. Going to ink this digitally and then probably do some flat color washes.

Lastly, value studies! Going with the left one for the cover and still figuring out the interior (but I'm leaning towards the darker one on the right).

I'll be sure to share the end result once they're finished!

Sabriel Head Studies

Sorry for being a day late! I realized last night what day it was (you'd be surprised how often I lose track) far too late, while drawing some head studies.

Allow me to share! Sabriel head studies! 

For one of my classes this semester (Narrative Illustration), as well as my thesis, I'm doing both a cover and interior illustration for Garth Nix's Sabriel. So before I start the drawing for them, I wanted to nail down her character a bit. I think it's going to be a synergy of the first two on the top left.

I'm excited to work on these illustrations and will definitely be sharing them as they develop!

Plein Air Painting in the Chill San Francisco Morn'

For today's Landscape Painting class we went to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco for some plein air painting. No matter what I do or how I try to prepare, SF always gets me with its chilliness. The entire four hours of outdoor painting (minus the last ten minutes--literally--when the sun finally shone through) were quite chilly and we were all trying to stay warm and paint our lil' cold fingers off.

I had a lot of fun, even having to lug all the painting and easel shit around! I'm looking forward to developing my environmental painting skills.... because they sure need some work.

Have  a great weekend, everybody!

300!

Onwards the count goes! There will be a midway celebration once I reach 500, for sure.

Prepare to be Inked!

I am now past 300 heads in the Thousand Head Challenge! These bad boys are waiting to be inked and then I shall share them when they are done.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Inspiration

For today's post I thought I would share five of my top influential/artists I dig/these guys are the shit.

I think it's great to have influences and each of the artists below always inspire me with their work. Also, I don't have any drawings to post today so I thought this would be a good idea. Although I did just hit the 300 heads mark! Clean-ups will be posted Friday.

Meanwhile,

Top 5 Artists/Illustrators/Animators Who Influence Me Now

(in no particular order)

1. Tara McPherson

Tara McPherson is one of the first artists I really got into (outside of Art History) and I've loved her work ever since. In fact, I think I've fallen even deeper. I love her use of color and the feelings each of her paintings or drawings evoke. Her work is very playful but there's also that twinge of darkness or oddity which just tugs at my heartstrings so.

Just lookit that little guy!

2. Joao Ruas

Joao Ruas came to my attention via a Spectrum issue, I believe. I enjoy his use of color, especially as an accent to a more subdued monochromatic feeling. I also dig how he uses texture and flat color while also rendering the forms mostly realistically.

Such nice, thin transparencies.

3. Audrey Kawasaki

Audrey Kawasaki's work feels so ethereal. Her girls are magical and imploring. I really enjoy her lost and found edges and shapes, greatly paired with the wood textures and line quality.

And look! She does boys too. Dey so perty...

3. Lauren Montgomery

I only recently was introduced to Lauren Montgomery's work, but I ate it up with vigor! I absolutely love her anatomical shorthand, how she simplifies and stylizes the human form while also referencing realism. Mmmm, so good! Her line quality is full of motion and she's got a strong grasp of anatomy.

Check out those sweet lines...

5. Dan Dos Santos

I'm really drawn towards Dan Dos Santos' work for several reasons. I really enjoy his use of color and appreciate his realistic rendering, while not going full-blown realism. His compositions are always great and his illustrations grab then trap my eye, which is a damn good use for book covers. I like the way he brings characters to life, making them interesting and communicating something about them even in one image alone.

This one's pretty damn funny. Funny and badass.

I hope you enjoyed my sharing! Hopefully you were exposed to a new artist or remembered an old love. There are plenty more I enjoy than just these five, but at the moment these guys are who I look to for inspiration the most. If you have any artists you're busting to share, please do!